


The Rules of Boxing

by sterlynsilverrose



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Timelines, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 00:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20055289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sterlynsilverrose/pseuds/sterlynsilverrose
Summary: "Teach me to fight."Neil Josten wanted to learn to fight in order to keep his promise to Andrew to keep Kevin safe. With Andrew away, Neil decides to ask his roommate who pulls him into learning how to box. Through everything going on it's a great distraction and a way to not have time to think about everything that he had been through since going to Palmetto.What happens when he ends up emotionally attached to Matt as strongly as he does Andrew?





	The Rules of Boxing

“Teach me to fight.” 

Matt had been going over notes for one of his classes when Neil had made his request. The sound of pen scratching against paper stopped and Matt sat up. 

“What brought this on?” 

Neil shrugged, “I just think it’s past time I learned.” 

That was a partial lie. 

Lola Malcolm had been in charge of teaching him to fight and to use knives, but those lessons had been more akin to torture than they had been any actual help. She had spent that time half jeering him and the other half of the time beating on him until he was black and blue in all the right places that clothing could cover up. 

A shudder of distaste ran down his spine and Neil shoved it down deep inside himself along with a slew of warning bells. This was Matt, his best friend, roommate, and fellow teammate. If there was one person he could trust to teach him how to fight it was him. 

Matt put his pen down, turned around to face Neil. 

“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. You do end up getting into a lot of trouble.” Matt agreed slowly. 

Neil gave him a rueful smile, “Yeah, I know.” 

Matt raked his eyes up and down Neil’s body. He drummed his fingers against the back of the chair and sighed, “Sure. Okay. Let’s do this.” 

“Just like that?” Neil asked. 

Matt nodded, “Just like that.” 

He motioned to the couch and stood up, “Grab your schedule and we’ll compare it to mine.” 

Look at both schedules proved to be more complicated than Neil expected. At last they settled on Monday and Wednesdays before Neil went to his night practices with Kevin. 

“I’ll make sure to get you home before Kevin comes looking for you.” Matt assured him with a grin. 

After a second he frowned rubbing a hand through the spikes of his hair, “Man, you are going to be so tired.” 

“But I’ll be more protected.” Neil pointed out. 

Matt really couldn’t argue with that. Even if it was just boxing basics, hopefully a few new moves with Neil’s intuition and speed would help keep him from ending up a bloody pulp on the court...Or any other venues. 

\-----

“I can’t believe you agreed to this.” Kevin bitched at Neil. 

Neil bit back a comment and grabbed his duffle bag from his locker. It had felt surreal when he packed it under Matt’s careful eye before morning practice. 

“I didn’t agree to it, I _asked_ for it.” Neil clarified. 

Kevin grimaced, “What if you get hurt? Then you’re off the line and our chances at championships go to zero.” 

Neil paused to give Kevin an incredulous look, “Matt wouldn’t hurt me on purpose.” 

“On _purpose_.” Kevin reiterated throwing Neil’s own words back at him. He slammed his locker shut and turned to fully face Neil.

Neil ignored him and his tantrum already tired of dealing with his fellow striker through both practices that day. When he was met with Neil’s silence, Kevin spun on his heel to look at Nicky and Aaron. “Well? Help me out.” 

“I think it’s a good idea. It means that he will be able to hold his own in a fight.” Nicky piped up as he slammed his locker shut. 

Aaron just gave Kevin a blank look and shrugged, “I don’t care about what you three do in your spare time.” 

Neil rolled his eyes and turned away to finish zipping up his bag. After, he carefully placed it on his shoulder.

Kevin grabbed at the strap stopping him, “I’m not finished yet.” 

“No, you’re done. If I’m late to meet Matt I’m taking it out of our time during night practice.” 

Kevin narrowed his eyes and Neil motioned to his strap, “Let go.” 

“You’re going to regret this.” Kevin growled. 

Neil rolled his eyes and walked out of the locker room letting the door slam closed behind him. 

\------

It didn’t take him long to catch up to Nicky and Aaron. Matt had parked next to Andrew’s car and stood where he could see Neil as he approached. “Hey.” 

Neil nodded, “Hey.” 

All the upperclassmen had claimed their usual spots in the truck already. Matt leaned over the hood on his forearms as he nodded towards Neil, “Let’s drop everyone off at the tower and then we can go in my truck to the gym.”

Allison, Renee, and Dan didn’t react in surprise to the statement, so Neil guessed they had probably been filled in. 

“I for one think it’s a great idea for you to learn to fight.” Dan told Neil with a smile. 

“Yeah, it’ll keep you from having your ass handed to you so much.” Allison added. 

“Sounds good. Thanks Matt.”

Matt waved off the thanks and got into his truck. “See you in fifteen.” 

“Neil?” Nicky called behind him. 

Neil turned and opened the driver door. He reached in and pressed the unlock button. Kevin slumped down into the front seat, thumbs digging into his temples. Nicky climbed in behind Neil and Aaron next to him. 

The car was blissfully silent if not a little tense because of Kevin’s bad mood.

It didn’t take long to unload the foxes at Fox Tower, and once Neil was satisfied that Kevin was safely tucked inside, Matt motioned for Neil to climb inside the pick up. Neil reached up and grabbed the roof handled to help himself up.

Matt hopped in and slammed the door shut, “Got your gear?” 

Neil motioned down to the duffle at his feet, “Yeah. Everything we picked out.” 

“Great.” 

Neil gave his roommate a thin lipped smile of his own. These sorts of actions were becoming easier and easier each day that passed. Somehow he had let the foxes get close, and while most of him told himself that this could end badly, this was the first time he had allowed himself to smile so much. 

He wanted to savor it while he could. 

“My mom introduced me to the owner Sal, when she was down here during the summer last year. That’s why I made it my home gym while I’m here.” Matt explained as he got them on the road. 

Neil nodded as Matt adjusted the music and turned it down as they eased away from Palmetto. 

He watched the scenery go by. 

“I think this is good. It means I get to hang out with you, and it gets you out a little more.” 

Neil looked over to Matt and raised an eyebrow, “If you wanted to spend more time together you should have said so.” 

Matt chuckled, “And take you away from Kevin and Andrew? We wouldn’t hear the end of it. But, I’m glad we will have something to bond over.” 

That anyone wanted to bond with Neil over anything was a miracle in itself. 

Neil leaned back into the seat and tapped the side of his foot against the bag on the floor board. “So, how are we going to do this?” 

“Since you are starting out brand new, we will take some time working on form, maybe watch some other people in the ring, and then we will try a few things. It’s all about practice at first and getting a rhythm.” Matt explained as they turned down a street and then right down another. 

It only took them fifteen minutes to get where they were going. 

Matt pulled into a parking lot and then locked the vehicle and motioned down the street, “It’s just a few stores down, but this is the best parking.” 

“Sounds good.”

\-----

Neil had never been in a boxing gym. 

Whatever notions he had about the atmosphere flew right out the window as soon as Matt opened the door and ushered him inside. Instead of the calm atmosphere he was used to at the foxes’ gym, the sound of fists hitting bags, people shouting, and feet stomping on the concrete greeted Neil. 

Matt grinned when Neil faltered and he gently pushed at Neil’s shoulder to get him moving again. “It’s different, isn’t it?” 

“I wasn’t expecting it to be so loud.” 

Matt stepped inside letting the door shut behind him, “How did you think it was going to sound? Quiet?” 

Neil thought about it for a moment, “I guess not.” 

“Hey Matt!” One of the other men across the room yelled. 

“Hey Paul, how’s it going?” Matt called out as he motioned for Neil to follow him to a small door on the far side of the room. Neil trailed after him slowly as he took in the sight around him. 

In the ring were two men wearing protective headgear swinging at each other. There was one man standing on the ground by the ring, arms folded over his chest as he watched over the others in the ring. He had grey hair and wore a pair of the thickest glasses that Neil had ever seen. 

Matt tapped his shoulder as they passed, “Hey Sal.” 

The man turned to look at Matt as he grinned, “Hey Mattie boy. How are ya?” 

“Good. I brought a friend with me.” 

Sal turned his eyes on Neil and raised an eyebrow, “He’s not in your weight class.” 

Neil blinked, and Matt laughed as he shook his head, “Well, it’s a good thing that I’m just showing him the basics, huh?” 

Sal rubbed at his chin thoughtfully, “That’s good. If you want when he gets beyond the basics let me know and I’ll have Johnny come spar with him.” 

Matt nodded and gave a thumbs up as he opened the locker room door and Neil nodded in passing to Sal. 

When the door shut Neil looked over to Matt, “Johnny?” 

“Sal’s nephew. He’s a fixture here as much as Sal is.” Matt explained as he sat his own bag down on the bench and motioned for Neil to do the same. 

\----

Both Kevin and Matt had been right. By the time Neil had gone through the basics of how to stretch, warm up, and get his hands ready it was almost time to go. The extra exercise made Neil feel like his arms and legs were made of noodles, and Kevin frowned at him as he slid into the passenger seat. 

“You look like shit.” Kevin scoffed, clearly unimpressed. 

“I’m fine.” 

Kevin’s frown turned into a glower, “What did I tell you about using that phrase?” 

Neil sighed, “I just might not need to warm up as much as you do.” 

“If this is really going to be a thing you need to make sure that it doesn’t interfere with Exy. After all, which one is going to end up keeping you alive for now?” Kevin pointed out as Neil drove them to the court. 

Neil didn’t dignify the question with an answer. 

\-----

Wednesday rolled around and Neil found himself unloading the monsters and Kevin at Fox Tower again. He hopped up into Matt’s truck with his duffle digging into his side. 

Matt smiled at him, and Dan looked at Neil through the driver side window, “Bring him back in one piece, okay?” 

Neil blinked at her and nodded.

Matt scoffed, “Really Dan? I’ll be gentle.” 

Dan grinned and kissed Matt’s cheek as she called out, “Make sure you two eat something.” 

It felt like no time at all before they were back in the boxing gym. 

Thankfully they had just come from practice at the court, so Neil was already dressed for a work out. They deposited their bags in the locker room and went out to the corner of the floor where there were several different jump ropes positioned against the wall. 

“Okay, so today we just want to loosen up by jumping rope for about three or four minutes.” Matt picked up one of the longer ropes for himself and Neil a shorter one. 

“Do we really need to loosen up?” 

Matt smiled, “Yes, we cooled down enough to do at least light warm up.” 

Neil sighed softly, and nodded as he gripped the handles on his jump rope a little firmer. 

“If you aren’t sure what to do watch me, and we’ll go from there.” 

Matt started to jump rope, keeping a good rhythm as he hopped with his feet together and then from foot to foot. After a few moments of watching, Neil joined in. Matt grinned as he continued to work himself up, and he only stopped when Neil hit himself. 

“I used to think I was in shape, but-” Neil motioned to his rope that he dropped by his feet. 

Matt chuckled and shook his head as he leaned down and grabbed Neil’s rope for him. “Come on. Let’s keep going.” 

Thankfully, they only did two more minutes of jump rope before Matt nudged Neil over to where the weights were kept. One other man was staring at himself in the mirror as he threw punches in counts of three. He was slow and methodical making sure to repeat the gesture over and over again. 

Once he was satisfied he switched up to something different. 

“Shadow boxing.” Matt explained as he nodded at the man’s reflection. The man grunted a greeting and threw a left, right, left staring at himself intently. “When we know what you need to work on you can use time to work on that. For today I think we are going to work on footwork.” 

“Kind of like yesterday?”

Matt nodded. 

“I want you to start simple. For now I want to show you what I want to do.” He motioned for Neil to stand in front of him. 

Neil planted himself in front of him and Matt raised up both fists, “Throw a punch at me.” 

Neil threw a punch. 

Instead of letting it land, Matt took an angled step back and pushed his arm away with the palm of his hand. “Okay, good. Again.” 

Neil threw another punch. 

Matt did the same thing on another angle stepping almost in a box as Neil turned to face him. 

“Again?” Neil asked. 

Matt grinned. “Now you’re getting it.” 

Neil and Matt continued that pattern for a few more moments, before Matt waved a hand for Neil to stop, “Foot work is a good way to get your body to automatically respond the way you want it to when you’re in a fight.” 

“Now you try.” Matt offered. 

Neil waited until Matt threw a slow punch and he copied the same movement. 

“Good. Again.” Matt told him before he delivered the next punch. 

\---

Morning exy practice.

School. 

Afternoon exy practice. 

Boxing with Matt. 

Night exy practice with Kevin. 

Neil found himself falling into a routine. Eventually Kevin stopped glaring daggers at him, and just made sure that he commanded all of Neil’s attention on the court during the night practices. 

It was easy for Neil to keep himself busy with a hectic schedule.

Especially as Thanksgiving approached. 

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” Matt asked. 

Neil shrugged, “Not sure.” 

The mere mention of Thanksgiving made him feel queasy and reminded him of Andrew’s absence. The feeling was like a knife in the gut. 

Thanksgiving was a time for family. 

Andrew wouldn’t be there since he was trying to get off his medication because his uncle had been a piece of shit and allowed Drake to come into his home. Even though Neil wasn’t the one that had been harmed, he still felt the aftermath as keenly as Nicky, Aaron and Kevin did. 

He had failed Andrew. 

He was responsible for the blond being at his uncle’s home in a situation he hadn’t wanted to be apart of in the first place. Andrew hadn’t glossed over that detail afterward and Neil still stung from Andrew telling him as much. 

He might have failed Andrew then, but he wouldn’t fail to keep his promise now. 

“Probably stay here.” He added. 

Matt nodded, “Yeah? With Aaron, Nicky, and Kevin?” 

“Probably.” 

Matt shook his head and sat down wrapping his own hands. Pausing mid wrap Matt looked at him, “You could always come with me and go to meet my Mom.” 

Neil sucked in a breath and held it as he flexed his fingers. 

Considering...

Part of him was curious, but the other part of him knew that he couldn’t leave Kevin. After all, he’d promised.

“Neil?” Matt broke the silence as he stood up and fully faced his roommate. 

Neil looked up at him, “What about Dan?” 

Matt smiled and shrugged, “She’s going to see her stage sisters. She made these plans a while ago and she doesn’t get to see them as much these days.” 

He should say no, but-- 

“Give me a few days to think about it?” 

“That’s fair.” Matt answered as he reached out a hand. 

Neil took his hand and allowed Matt to pull him up to his feet, “Enough small talk. Let’s get in there and work on our warm ups.” 

Even though things were still new, Neil found that there was a certain pattern to boxing and that it carried its own rhythm. As he jumped rope, he allowed himself to weigh his options. 

He could go with Matt to see his mother or he could stay and the others would drag him to Thanksgiving Dinner with Wymack and Abby. At least that was probably what would end up happening. 

Kevin wouldn’t care if he went, but he couldn’t leave Kevin alone for the five days.

Having worked things out partially in his head had only worked until the first time he hit his shin with the jump rope. He stopped and winced, as he heard Matt chuckle as he bounced from foot to foot. “You shouldn’t be so distracted when jumping rope, otherwise it’ll bite you.” 

Neil gave his roommate a flat look. “No, really?” 

Matt gasped and stopped, the jump rope still in both his hands as he turned to face Neil, “Was that sarcasm? Did you just sass me?” 

“Not at all.” Neil told him as he turned away and started jump rope. 

The rest of the time went pretty much the same as it did the last time they had met: jumping rope, foot work, and shadow boxing. 

Before long it was time for them to leave.

“When am I going to get into the ring?” Neil asked, toweling off the sweat from his face and neck. 

Matt took a long drink from his water bottle, sitting it on the wooden bench as he plopped down next to it. He unwound the tape from around his hands and grinned at Neil, “That ready to get into the ring?”

“That’s the point of boxing.”

“Most people take a couple weeks up to six or seven before they are ready to be in the ring for a match. However, when you start doing the footwork a little more fluidly we can work on your stamina in the ring.” Matt answered

“So not yet?” 

“Not yet.” Matt confirmed with a grin. 

Neil rolled his eyes and finished taking off the tape from his hands as he sat down on the bench checking over everything in his bag. 

It was still weird that he was using a duffle for something other than stuffing his clothing in and running. 

“Hey Matt?” Neil played with the zipper on his bag. 

“Yeah?” 

“If I go with you for Thanksgiving I have to bring Kevin.” 

Matt took in a breath and hissed it out past his clenched teeth, “I figured that might come up.” 

“I promised Andrew.” Neil offered up a bit of truth to his teammate. 

“Well, I doubt it will make a difference if he comes with us or not.” Matt shrugged and stood up as he looked at the clock on the wall. “We should get going or you’ll be late.” 

Neil stood up and followed after him. “So it’s okay to bring him along?” 

“Yeah, but he will probably try and drag you to a court somewhere.” Matt warned. 

Neil rolled his eyes as they pushed out the door and into the muggy twilight. “I doubt it will be a problem for us to find somewhere to practice.” 

“If he gets to be too much, just let me know and we can lock him in a room.” 

Neil nodded. “Do you want to hit up your home gym when we are there?” 

“If we do I bet my mom will want to come too.”

\----

Getting Kevin to agree to go with him to Matt’s for Thanksgiving was surprisingly easy. When he told Kevin about the invite, he expected the older striker to outright reject the idea, but he just sat quietly with his arms over his chest. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Kevin asked. 

“Because if I go, then you have to go too.” Neil told him. 

Kevin made a face, “A whole five days dealing with Boyd on a holiday?”

Neil shrugged, “I haven’t had Thanksgiving before and I want to spend it with Matt and his mom.” 

The Wesninki’s had never been big on holidays themselves. His father had always liked to show them off at parties, but as for the warmth the holidays held? He had never experienced it. 

If he had put one toe out of line Nathaniel was sent to his room barely able to move with no one to look after him, and that was _if_ he was lucky. Other times he got a visit from one of his father’s inner circle for further lessons. 

Kevin paused before getting up from the desk he had tucked himself away to study in the library. He turned and leveled an unimpressed look at Neil, “What about practice?” 

“It’s not like Nicky and Aaron go anyway and with Andrew on lock down it’s not like you need his permission. But, if I am going to keep my promise to Andrew then you have to come.” 

Kevin pulled his phone out of his windbreaker pocket, and swiped a few keys on the screen, “I guess this means you’ll want to continue boxing down there too?” 

Neil nodded. 

Kevin turned his phone to show Neil the screen. On it were several exy courts in the city, “Fine. If we go you’re mine after whatever stupid activity you and Boyd do.” 

“That’s fair.” Neil conceded. 

“Now quit bothering me and do your own work. I have a paper comparing the history of literature between China and Japan due before we leave for Thanksgiving.” He waved Neil off and sat back down to get to work. 

That was surprisingly easy.  
Maybe a little too easy, but Neil wasn’t going to complain about whatever justification Kevin had used in his own mind to agree. Whatever it was had been it landed in Neil’s favor, and he didn’t want to push it. 

Instead, he brought out his phone and tapped out a quick message to Matt. 

//Kevin said yes.// 

//Great. I’ll go ahead and book the tickets! I can’t wait to introduce you to my mom!!!// 

Neil read the text a few more times before he put down the phone and picked up his pencil once again. 

\---

Through days of Neil’s busy routine, the day before they were set to leave with Matt to New York came quicker than he thought it would. 

“I still can’t believe you are leaving us here and taking Kevin to New York without us.” Nicky grumbled as he flopped into the back seat of Andrew’s car. Neil sighed and gripped the steering wheel that much tighter. 

No wonder Andrew took to threatening his older cousin with relish when he did it. 

“A little time apart is a good thing. I’m tired of looking at them.” Aaron added. 

Kevin threw a dirty look at Aaron, who looked unimpressed the other even thought it would be a good idea to do so. “Well we would stay if you wanted to come practice with us. You need it--” 

He cut a look to Nicky, “Both of you.” 

“Hey.” Nicky frowned and looked at Neil, locking eyes with him through the rearview mirror. 

“Fuck you.” Aaron added unhelpfully. 

“Knock it off. It’s only for five days. I would leave Kevin here but I promised Andrew.” Neil pointed out. 

“How refreshingly honest of you Neil.” Nicky shook his head with a forced grin. 

Neil turned his eyes back to the road without saying anything else to anyone. 

Kevin sunk into his seat, refusing to face any of them as the campus rolled by, sulking. Nicky’s face scrunched up as he wrapped his arms around himself, and Aaron’s face darkened. 

It was silent until they reached the stadium. 

Once Neil parked the car and cut the engine Aaron was the first out with Nicky close at his heels. Kevin stepped out of the car last and slammed the door shut without a backward glance. 

Neil took his time getting out of the car, already annoyed. 

“Hey Neil!” Dan’s cheerful voice greeted him as she stood at the hood of the car, grinning at him as she tipped her head towards the others who had just left, “Hard morning?” 

“You could say that.” Neil gave her a small smile. 

“Well, don’t let them get under your skin. We need to focus on practice and then all of us have to go back tonight at get packed.” Dan told him as she slung her arm around his shoulders. He tensed at the touch at first, but slowly loosened up as they walked towards the door to go inside. 

“When does your flight leave?” Neil asked. 

He really wasn’t interested in when it left, but he was interested in Dan’s plans for Thanksgiving. To be that close to a group of people used to be something he couldn’t imagine after all. His mother had never really let him have friends. To be that entangled with people was something he was still coming to terms with. 

“Around Noon. I’ll take you, Matt, and Kevin to the airport first. I think Renee and Allison go after I do.” Dan explained. 

Before they reached the place where they held their meetings, Dan slowed to a stop and turned to face Neil. She put both of her hands on his shoulders and smiled, “I’m happy you are going with Matt. Randy is really cool and you’ll learn a lot from her. Don’t let Kevin wear you out, it’s a break for a reason okay?” 

Neil nodded, “I won’t.” 

“Good.” Dan nodded as if that was the last word in the conversation. 

She studied Neil’s face for a moment and opened her mouth, “Just so you know…” 

Dan paused and studied him intently again. Neil waited for her to continue, but whatever she saw there must have changed her mind. She squeezed his shoulders and grinned, “Never mind. That’s a conversation for another day. Come on let’s get this practice started.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this. I know it has chapters and I will do my best to update, but I hope you liked the first chapter enough to stick around to see where this is going. Next stop? Matt's home and Randy meeting Neil. Also, this story will not stay Teen and Up for very long. 
> 
> You have been warned! 
> 
> If you liked it please leave a comment or kudos.


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